The City Constabulary Department of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has been battling a staff shortage for years now, but Acting Chief Constable Virjanan Gafur said the department is continuing to do its best with the limited resources.
Overall, the constabulary has 113 staff members against a required strength of more than 200, and the problem is compounded when members go on vacation and sick leave.
Even so, Gafur maintained that the department has not given up, and that there’s a move by the City Council to recruit more workers.
The areas City Police Officers are required to patrol in keeping with their mandate falls within a 15 miles radius. The patrol area is bounded on the North by the Atlantic Ocean, on the West by the Demerara River, on the East by the Eastern side of Plantation Cummings Lodge, Houston and Rome, and on the South by the Southern boundary of Plantation Rome.
In an interview with the News Room on Wednesday at his City Hall office, Gafur said it’s imperative for the department to continue to function even with such great shortage of workers.
“It’s not an easy road, but we are making out. We can’t give up; we have to do our duties. And we will do our duties despite the shortage. We can’t just stay home and say, ‘we ain’t got nobody, leave the market like that.’ We have to work,” Gafur stated.
He is hoping that the move by the M&CC to advertise vacancies for the department on its Facebook page will yield some results.
“We are hoping to get some human resource and the system could improve. Hopefully we get the staff and put them out there as early as possible,” Gafur remarked.
Despite the situation, he said there has only been one break-in at the Bourda market for the year so far.
“We need more security. It’s very challenging. The ranks complaining but I keep motivating them telling them we can’t give up. We are going by God’s grace.”
The primary responsibility of the City Constabulary, established in 1837, is to maintain law and order within the jurisdiction of the Georgetown Municipality.
